Exacerbated by the pandemic, the healthcare industry is grappling with a formidable challenge—the healthcare staffing crisis. From the nursing shortage in healthcare to physician burnout and staffing gaps, this problem spans all healthcare roles.
In fact, one analysis reveals a shortage of up to 3.2 million healthcare workers by 2026. Another study expects a shortage of about 73,000 nursing assistants by 2028.
So, what will help turn the tide?
Like any healthcare emergency, a solid treatment plan must be implemented and followed, and innovative solutions should be part of this strategy.
Join us as we explore the key issues contributing to the current healthcare staffing crisis, the impact on patient care, and potential strategies to address these challenges in 2025.
Understanding the Healthcare Staffing Crisis
The healthcare staffing crisis has many layers, stemming from factors like higher demand for healthcare services, aging workforce populations, and the fallout from the pandemic.
For example, one study reveals that over one-third of nurses will reach retirement age in the next ten to fifteen years, leading to a shortage of nursing staff and educational resources to train future nurses.
However, overworked healthcare professionals, shrinking applicant pools, and limited recruitment resources have really placed healthcare systems under immense pressure.
Below, we look deeper into these challenges and how they drive the healthcare staffing crisis.
Key Challenges Driving Workforce Shortages
Nursing Shortage in Healthcare
Nurses are the backbone of the healthcare industry. Unfortunately, Hospitals and healthcare facilities are struggling to meet demand due to a significant nursing turnover.
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) revealed that about 100,000 nurses exited the profession during the pandemic, with another 610,000 planning to leave by 2027.
Many registered nurses are also nearing retirement, which, combined with underfunded nursing programs and increased workloads, has left gaps that are unlikely to be filled quickly.
Physician Burnout and Staffing
The US will be short by as much as 86,000 physicians by 2036, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
Why the attrition? One glaring reason—burnout.
Physician burnout rates have skyrocketed, fueled by:
- Long hours
- Low autonomy and flexibility
- Administrative burdens such as electronic health records (EHR)
- The emotional toll of patient care
However, employee retention in healthcare and operating short-staffed are taking a massive toll on physicians and remain a leading cause of physician burnout. So, what are the long-term effects of this burnout?
It attributes to the costs of the US healthcare system, which averages $4.6 billion a year. This is mainly due to physician turnover and work-hour reductions.
Staffing Crisis in Rural Healthcare
Only 10% of physicians in the US practice in rural areas despite rural populations accounting for 20% of the population. Why? Rural health facilities face unique challenges in attracting talent.
The WWAMI Rural Health Research Center offers several reasons for staffing shortages in rural communities, including:
- Fewer professional growth opportunities. Access to healthcare education programs may be limited in rural areas.
- Limited infrastructure
- Geographical barriers
- Lower salaries
Building on the above staffing issues, one analysis notes that rural hospital closures have exacerbated the challenges many of these organizations were already experiencing, including workforce shortages.
Alarmingly, 50% of America’s rural hospitals are operating in the red, according to one report. With this trend, nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals may leave the community following a hospital closure or anticipating such closures.
How Staffing Shortages Impact Patient Care
The damaging effects of healthcare workforce shortages are far and wide. Patient care quality is usually the first casualty and often diminishes as understaffed practices and organizations struggle to meet demand.
Some of the direct consequences include:
- Reduced Patient Access: Extended appointment wait times, particularly in specialized care, are becoming increasingly common.
- Compromised Care Quality: Fewer staff members can lead to reduced one-to-one attention, missed diagnoses, or grave errors resulting in adverse events.
- Staff Fatigue: Overburdened healthcare staff are more likely to experience fatigue, further increasing the risk of errors and lowering morale.
Innovative Healthcare Workforce Planning Strategies for 2025
Let’s face it: there’s no single solution or “quick fix” to today’s healthcare staffing crisis.
The good news? There are many forward-looking policies and innovative technology solutions that, when used together, can address these ongoing shortages in 2025.
Here are four healthcare workforce planning strategies that can pave the way forward for your practice or organization.
1. Healthcare Recruitment Strategies
Providers need to reimagine their approach to hiring, prioritizing inclusivity, flexibility, and career development opportunities. Some long-term recruitment and retention strategies include:
- Proposing financial incentives such as sign-on bonuses, tuition reimbursement, and loan forgiveness for healthcare workers.
- Offering Micro-credentials. This solution allows individuals to demonstrate competence in various areas and to update existing skills or obtain new skills. It can help address gaps for healthcare workers while empowering them with more flexibility in their career paths, increasing job satisfaction and retention.
- Eliminate mandatory overtime. One of the many reasons nurses leave their positions is due to required overtime. Getting rid of this mandate will boost retention rates.
2. EHR and Automation in Staffing
Rethinking the role of technology in managing patient care and administrative workflows can reduce staff workload and burnout. Here are a few solutions to consider:
- Utilizing EHR software to simplify documentation processes reduces staff burden and allows them to focus more on clinical care. For instance, Updox, a communications platform that integrates with EHRs, offers a HIPAA-compliant Forms feature that streamlines data collection and improves practice efficiency, enabling secure, paperless patient intake and documentation.
- Adopting AI-driven tools to predict care demands and allocate resources more effectively. Predictive analytics platforms utilize machine learning to analyze patient data like medical history, demographics, and lab results. This tool allows providers to forecast potential health issues, enabling proactive interventions.
- Automating scheduling to optimize healthcare staff utilization. This tool helps monitor and adjust staffing levels automatically, increasing productivity. It also reduces labor costs by eliminating the need for manual scheduling and accurately predicting the workforce’s expenses.
3. Support Programs for Healthcare Workers
Preventing burnout by addressing the emotional and physical tolls of working in healthcare is essential.
For instance, mental health support programs and staff recognition initiatives can improve retention and job satisfaction. Here’s how:
- When recognition is implemented and focused on making work more sustainable and rewarding, it can lead to robust benefits, such as a 31% decrease in turnover, a 14% increase in productivity, and a notable increase in employee engagement.
- Mental health support programs like The Nurse Well-Being: Building Peer and Leadership Support Program offer evidence-based tools to improve nurses’ recovery from stress reactions. The program provides real-time resources to help nurses understand the stress they are experiencing and how to manage it.
4. Encouraging Community Engagement and Diversity in Healthcare
Diversity initiatives can open doors for underrepresented groups in healthcare and widen the talent pool. For example, scholarships and mentorship programs for minority communities can empower more individuals to join the healthcare workforce.
Healthcare staffing crisis solutions cannot be implemented in a vacuum.
Collaborative programs between the public, private, and nonprofit sectors can provide more job opportunities, training, and resources.
For example, to address healthcare shortages, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) launched a Learning Collaborative to work with states on implementing strategies to strengthen the next-gen healthcare workforce.
Several positive outcomes emerged from this work, including:
- Peer-to-peer discussion. States worked together to build up the healthcare workforce across the country rather than courting workers across state borders.
- Employer partnerships. States partner with employers on healthcare career pathways to develop sustainable talent pipelines.
- Stakeholder engagement. States engage their local communities, healthcare groups, and other stakeholders to understand community healthcare needs and workforce needs better and inform their initiatives.
Looking Ahead
The healthcare staffing crisis demands an immediate, multifaceted response. While no single solution can resolve all aspects of this issue, combining innovative recruitment strategies, technology integration, and workforce planning will create a stronger foundation for ensuring accessible, high-quality care for all.
Are you ready to plan for a stronger healthcare workforce in 2025?
Contact Updox today to find out how we can help you:
- Increase medical practice efficiency
- Scale operations
- Build a resilient healthcare staff
